Model simulations of the first aerosol indirect effect and comparison of cloud susceptibility fo satellite measurements
Present-day global anthropogenic emissions contribute more than half of the mass in submicron particles primarily due to sulfate and carbonaceous aerosol components derived from fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning. These anthropogenic aerosols modify the microphysics of clouds by serving as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and enhance the reflectivity of low-level water clouds, leading to a cooling effect on climate (the Twomey effect or first indirect effect). The magnitude of the first aerosol indirect effect is associated with cloud frequency as well as a quantity representing the sensitivity of cloud albedo to changes in cloud drop number concentration. This quantity is referred to as cloud susceptibility [Twomey, 1991]. Analysis of satellite measurements demonstrates that marine stratus clouds are likely to be of higher susceptibility than continental clouds because of their lower number concentrations of cloud drops [Platnick and Twomey, 1994]. Here, we use an improved version of the fully coupled climate/chemistry model [Chuang et al., 1997] to calculate the global concentrations Of sulfate, dust, sea salt, and carbonaceous aerosols (biomass smoke and fossil fuel organic matter and black carbon). We investigated the impact of anthropogenic aerosols on cloud susceptibility and calculated the associated changes of shortwave radiative fluxes at the top of the atmosphere. We also examined the correspondence between the model simulation of cloud susceptibility and that inferred from satellite measurements to test whether our simulated aerosol concentrations and aerosol/cloud interactions give a faithful representation of these features.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 15013442
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC-147528; TRN: US200601%%404
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 11th Atmospheric Radiation Managmenet Program Science Team Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, Mar 19 - Mar 23, 2001
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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